The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1887-10-06
KEEPING BUTTER IN BRINE

A friend Of mine is keeping butter
through the season in the following
way: The butter is made in the usual
way and the milk we'll washed out Of
it. Then it is put under a strong brine
pickle in a large hogshead with the in
tention of repacking it in small tubs in
the fall. Is the method a good n or
wherein can it be improved? What
is the right way and strength to make
brine pickle for butter in that way ?
w. H. G.
Naturally, butter is a very perish
able product, and, except where cir
cumstances compel it, keeping butter
for any length of time, for use or for
sale, is not to be advised. The mar
kets are calling more and more for
fresh butter, and, fortunately for all,
as | believe, winter dairying and quick
sales are growing in popularity and
resulting in profit. The butter crop,
as a whole, however, is still very I'M
evenly distributed through the year, by
far the greater production being du-
ring the pasturing season, and with
the markets at their lowest for the
year. While this is true, a great deal
of butter must be packed or in some
way kept and carried owe for sale or
use some months after making.
Among the methods which have
found favor for preserving butter, is
that.of "pickling" or keeping in Brine
Some have successfully practiced keep
ing butter in the granular form, which
has simply been we'll washed from the
churn and never salted. In this form
it may be kept in brine, and sailed and
worked into shape to suit the taste,
whenever wanted into shape to suit
whenever wanted. But while this will
do for small quantities, using glass jars
as for canned fruit, it has seldom been
found satisfactory when undertaken
on a large scale. The more usual and
better plan is to finish the butter, get
ting it as free as possible from butter
milk, sailed a full ounce to the pound,
and left in a large compact mass, or
made into rolls of a pound OF two each
in weight. I prefer the rolls, and
would wrap each in a we'll fitting
piece of cheese cloth. Then the Jumps
or rolls are to be immersed in brine, in
a clean, sweet cask of any convenient
size. The process resembles in every
respect the keeping of fat pork, in
"pickle." The principles of preserv-
ing the fats are the same in both cases:
all the little spaces in the mass or ma
terial to be filled with brine as a pre-
paration and then all submerged in
brine, excluding the air.
The brine should be as strong as
possible, as much salt being used as
the water will hold in solution, and
should be made of good salt, and care
fully prepared, that it may keep sweet
and pure. 1t is much better to do
this than to be obliged to change the
brine. If the brine before use is
boiled and clarified, slowly cooled to a
temperature of fifty to sixty degrees,
and then kept without much change,
it will remain sweet a long time.
Even temperature throughout the sea-
son IS very desirable, and can usually
be secured i'm a good cellar.
Care must be taken that none of the
butter is exposed at the surface, and
if it can be arranged SO as not to touch
the sides of the cask, SO much the
better.
A good portion Of brine to butter is
desirable, and while the size of the
cask is immaterial, as long as all goes
well, [ prefer several small vessels to
one large one, as a precaution against
accident which may cause IMMUNITY in
the brine Prof. Henry E. Alvord,
Massachusetts, Agricultural College.
THOUGHTS FOR FARMERS. .
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